Tips from the Kitchen

Making Asian Recipes More Healthful

To give you some help in making your Asian recipes more healthful in 2013, we asked Jaden Hair if we could share her tips with you. According to Jaden, “When your taste buds are having so much fun with these flavors in every bite, you won't miss the fat or oil at all!”

Cooking healthy means four things in the Steamy Kitchen:

Holding back on the dense, high-calorie sauces and instead focusing on fresh herbs and fragrant spices, and using a combination of what I call the “Five S’s” (salty, sweet, sour, savory, and spicy) that are used in authentic Asian cooking.

Learning cooking techniques that cut down on the use of a lot of fats, oils, and sugars. Correct stir-frying techniques only use a couple teaspoons of cooking oil per dish.

Using meats more sparingly, following how Asians normally use meats as more of a condiment than the star attraction of the meal.

Focusing on recipes that are naturally gluten-light or entirely gluten-free. Some simple substitutions like rice noodles for wheat noodles work.